Countdown to D.C. United opener

D.C. United practiced in the rain at the RFK Stadium training grounds Friday morning before packing its bags for an afternoon flight to Kansas City ahead of Saturday night's opener against the Wizards (8:30 p.m. ET, Direct Kick cable/satellite package).

As season preparations accelerate, the personnel evaluation slows. A few contracts still need to be finalized, but at the moment, here's how the roster looks:

.....obvious: Perkins will be backed up by Hamid. Jakovic will anchor the backline, and with Peña unavailable after sorting out visa issues in Spain, James is the top choice to step in. James is recovering from a stomach virus but expected to play. McTavish has been slowed by a hamstring injury, opening the right back slot for the newly acquired Talley, who said he played seven or eight games on that corner last year. Najar was tested at right back in the final preseason match but is a natural attacker and not prepared for defensive responsibilities.

Simms has regained fitness to the point where he can start. Morsink is the other option in deep central midfield. Quaranta is the two-way central midfielder, with Castillo on the left and perhaps the pacy and unpredictable Khumalo on the right. Would Onalfo dare to start Najar? A second-half appearance seems more likely. Moreno and Pontius are the first-choice forwards.

Pena does not need a visa to play for DCU. He needs a work permit to play for DCU. Visas are only for entry into the United States and he was already here (and could have adjusted status without leaving). He does, of course, need to get a visa to leave the country and return (an away match at Toronto, for example). If his work permit has been approved by DHS, embassies and consulates could issue a visa the same day. Sounds to me like they are trying to get all of his legal processes completed right away. I appreciate the effort to front-load the process, but there was no legal requirement for him to go to Spain or anywhere else.

Moreno isn't ideal as a target man, but he and Quaranta could overlap as the game went on, supplying through balls to each other as well as the wingers.
Regardless of how they line up though, I'll be rootin for em!

Hey Troy6, your statement would only be true if Pena had already been granted P-1 status. How you suppose he did that? Change of status within the U.S.? Hadn't he just entered from Mexico? What about preconceived intent? Do you honestly think the league would have already filed a P-1 petition with DHS before he signed?

Let's pressure KC straight away:
Moreno plays a withdrawn central striker role and Allsopp and Pontius run on to #99's magic diagonal passes. 2nd half bring in Najar who will be so pumped up that none of the KC defenders will be a ble to track him and pull Allsopp or Pontius based on who isn't performing... Attack KC! I would love to see Santino push forward as well if he is up for it - problem is that crap KC facility is so tight...

You've fallen prey to a common form of Florentinitis — in putting together your Galacticos, you've left out a midfield destroyer. I guess you must have typed "Gerrard" instead of "Olsen". It's a common mistake.

Philly's outside backs (esp. on the right) were absolutely OWNED last night. Emphasize overlapping runs on the wings and low crosses through the box, with Tino, Jamie, and Party Boy there to put shots on goal.

Philly's outside backs (esp. on the right) were absolutely OWNED last night. Emphasize overlapping runs on the wings and low crosses through the box, with Tino, Jamie, and Party Boy there to put shots on goal.

Troy6, DCUcompa,
Peña is a EU national (spain) and does not need a visa to enter the USA... he does however need a work permit in order to play for MLS... I dont think he needs a visa for Canada either.

I don't quite understand calls for Castillo to play centrally, as his strengths are clearly suited for wing play.

I would be interested in a 4-3-3 at somepoint, but to name a favored roster at this point doesn't seem necessary. We have yet to see how any of our forwards (outside Moreno) will stack up in a prominent role. I'm just curious to see who is currently favored.

By the way, under the category of "things no human should ever have to learn the hard way", 24 hour McD's don't start serving breakfast til 4 am. That really bummed me out at 2:40 this morning when I hadn't had breakfast yet.

@Sec107 I realized this after I posted. Getting ahead of myself here. I'm from PHL originally, have my tickets for next weekend, and am apparently a little overeager to see our boys wipe the floor with Novak's Union.

where are all you people coming up with these crazy formations. At the end of the day, it always reverts back to the basic 4-4-2 but the main emphasis should be hard work, especially coming back on Defense.

Anyway, so what is the deal with Allsop? I thought he was brought in to provide top goal scoring in replacing Emilio. He's not even a starter?

@DCUcompa - Fred was serving a red card suspension last night. He was sent off in our last game of the season last year for blocking a goal with his hand at the end of the game.

@godpere - I think the FO underestimated Jaime for this year. I think they figured he'd play super-sub and we'd start Party Boy and the Aussie up top, but Jaime's form is really demanding a start, so one of Pontius or Allsop has to sit.

As for the wing, I'd rather see Barklage start on the right side - Boyzzz or Najar as a sub if we need the speed there or up top later in the game.

If you have FIOS please call right now and complain. They are planning on a blackout of the game tomorrow night on DirectKick even though it it not televised locally. This may be a problem on other cable systems as well. The tech guy for FIOS told me the only way to stop this is to call and complain. 1-888-553-1555. Call now!

Huh??? I don't understand refutations of proposals that no one has made. However, if anyone had called for Castillo to play centrally, I'd say that would not play to his strengths. On the other hand, I've made the same argument about Quaranta, and look who's going to play in the middle...

Talley on the right. James, alas, in the middle, if he's OK to play. Khumalo on the wing. Pontius and Moreno up top, but I expect Allsopp to start and Pontius to come off the bench (or play the wing).

@TheAMT -- I definitely think the team is surprised by Moreno's resurgence, but I think they've probably overrated Allsopp's scoring potential, too. Of course, I could be pleasantly surprised. Let's not put too much stock in training games. He hasn't played much with the entire first XI.

@croftonpost -- Do we know if there's a DirectKick blackout, or is it possible that FiOS is just ignoring the ugly stepchild of NBA Pass (or whatever it's called)? Is it possible, the info about Direct Kick hasn't been entered in to the program guide and that it's lamely omitted from promotional info on the Verizon site? Maybe, the games will magically appear? I'm checking for tonight's match, as a test.

It is definite. It was straight from the mouth of tech support who was looking at the blackout data for tomorrow night's game on DCU-KC game on channel 1498. It listed MD, DC, VA, and DE. It's a huge problem. Some freeview! I just purchased DirectKick as well. I won't be happy if this is a regular occurrence.

4-4-2 in name only. Moreno is more withdrawn, Quaranta pushes up, Pontius only in midfield cause we lack another true center midfielder and he can play all over, and i hope wallace pushes up as well. Man our defense still sucks, hope Pena hurrys back. We need to pick up at least 1 quality DP after the world cup if we're going to have any shot at all in the playoffs.

I do not think that Onalfo is going to stray from the lineups he used during the preseason. I especially don't think that Pontius is going to move back into MF since he played forward all preseason. Therefore I go with what DadRyan posted:

That site is utter cr*p. Anybody found an injury report or matchcenter yet? I tried the search box and all it turned up was the injury report from MLS Cup. And I had to go to BSPN for the box score on last night's game.

I can't call FIOS cuz I don't have it. I sure hope you folks who do are calling and complaining. Are you guys saying that if you went to an official viewing party at Molly's or the Continental that the game will be blacked out there too? WTF?

I never thought about that. I guess it is a possibility. I have no idea who makes these blackout decisions and neither did the tech support guy for FIOS. However, he did groan loudly when I informed him I was immediately posting this on SI. :)

I just called DirecTV to see about this "free preview" I am reading about....I have had the Directkick package for the past few years, but my wife had recently called and canceled the automatic renewal for this year (or so I thought). First off, the guy said I was still signed up for the Directkick package (excellent) and second, that it would not be blacked out in my area. Granted, I live in Marshall, VA (Fauquier County) but I'm only 20 miles West of Manassas, so I would assume I am still considered the Northern Virginia area.

Vamos United! Let's take care of business!! Ready to rock the Black and represent up in Mfiddy next weekend!

compa and loco: if he came in under the visa waiver with his EU passport, then he cannot adjust status. that certainly explains why he had to go back to get that fixed. had he arrived on a valid B1/B2, he could have adjusted to P-1 status directly with DHS without leaving the country.

270: actually, the red official passport is the same color as the uniform EU passports. it's the blue ones (and the diplomatic black ones) that cry out, "shoot me first."

to all: sorry for raising the subject, but it's dear to my heart (yesterday I was ranting even worse about the nonsense being spouted regarding the underwear bomber's visas).

Sorry, I am sure everyone knows that Directkick is the DirecTV MLS package. Also, I asked him specifically to check the D.C. vs. Wiz game and he said "it will not be blacked out". At least not for me..

He didn't know. He assumed that it was done in error and that is why he encouraged callers.

Smitty,

I'm not surprised about Direct TV. Direct TV and Dish Network work separately from the Indemand network. It's the Indemand network that is probably where the problem lies. They handle all cable systems for DK including FIOS.

Dad-I was thinking the same thing but I purchased DirectKick which p####es me off. It's just the principal of paying twice for the same thing right now. Not to mention the picture quality won't be nearly as good.

Ah, the return of the formations thread soon to be followed by the "blame _____ for the loss/dropped point/signings" thread. And for the fringe (we have lot's of those running around these days) - the old "Fire the Coach" or "We should have hired ______" threads. Oh regular season, how I have missed you so... Welcome back.

troy6, not sure why you continue to lecture on immigration law on this blog. But, since you have, I'll lecture right back at ya. If Peña had entered the US from Mexico on a B-1/B-2 (after the Santos Laguna game), and applied for a change of status ("adjust status" is the wrong term in this context) so soon thereafter, the USCIS likely would not grant him a change of status to P-1 - doctrine of preconceived intent. In short, consular notification would have been the only practical option. From your posts, you sound like a consular officer or DHS employee. Am I right?

Not speaking for troy, but knowing the guy I would hardly call his input lecturing. Lighten up DCUcompa.

On another note, is anyone planning on checking out the reserve/friendly on Monday? My daughter is getting her pre school spring break and I'm thinking this might be a great opportunity to take her to see "her team". Holler at me!

I have an update on the blackout. I just received an e-mail from DCU and the league is working on resolving the blackout right now (can't believe my phone call led to this). They have promised that it won't be blacked out tomorrow.

Now for the bad news. I'm on the phone with FIOS as I type this and if you're a FIOS subscriber then things aren't looking too good unless you subscribe to DK right now. They had no idea there was a freeview this weekend and their system is not set up for it.

We can just check the MLS game tonight on FIOS to see if it is "freeview" to see if the sales rep was correct. The game is at 10:30 PM tonight. If the "freeview" is not active tonight then we can order DirectKick tomorrow morning. No problems for tomorrow night unless they black out the Baltimore United game.

thanks for the update. It is surprising at time what can happen if you simply let your fingers do the walking, eh?

It's looking more and more like tomorrow will consist of calling around to the bars having viewing parties and inquiring about exactly who they're getting their cable from. What a load. FIOS for all it's praise, is really screwing the pooch on this one. Unless of course they get it handled. Sure hope these bars that are having these viewing parties don't have FIOS. No FIOS in DC right? It might be Black Finn after all....

It would take a miracle for them to get it right because they aren't working on the problem. In fact, they were so confident about the freeview not being available this weekend that they expedited my DK order so that it would be available to me tomorrow. The whole thing today has been a complete mess.

FIOS and Comcast get DK from the Indemand Network. According to the MLS web site they were supposed to be part of the freeview. Alas, as I stated earlier in the evening I was afraid it would be more than FIOS.
270-I gave it my all. Sometimes gross incompetence is impossible to overcome. Viva La Mancha!

thanks for the update SEOutreach. Makes me wish I still live in Rosslyn... Love your handle by the way.
Was at the neighbors and he didn't have the Chivas game on his FIOS. It's looking more and more like a bike ride down to the Conti tomorrow night.

United has signed Barry Rice. Welcome aboard for the King of Headers. I had a good feeling about him since I first posted that I thought the team should bring him in for a trial, after the draft. I'm sure Pena will be the starter, but Rice may be the guy in years to come.

Given United's current roster, forgetting about injuries, who is our first choice RM?

If the team insists on Pontius as a forward and Q in the middle at CM...are Barklage, Boyzzz, Najar, McT the best 4 choices...then who gets the nod???

Barklage looked ok before getting injured, Boyzzz has shown well at times, Najar is all potential (which I'm a big fan of) and McT can man the position if needed, but are any of them really a FIRST choice?